Skiadrum of the Shadows
by Ultrawolfie
Summary: Rogue decides to tell Frosch a little about his days of living with the Shadow Dragon Skiadrum.


**This was just a quick burst of inspiration that hit me since it's rare to hear much about Skiadrum in fanfiction. Sorry if you were waiting for another story to update instead but I want to write this one and a Rogue/Lucy oneshot first. This story was inspired by a picture on Deviantart of Rogue and an Artist interpretation of Skiadrum. To find it, just go to Deviantart and type "Skiadrum" in the search bar. There are two similar pictures of a cave scene. The artist is KlaudNYNE. I'd supply the link but this website is pretty tricky about that… **

**Skiadrum's voice will be in bold. In case you're not sure, Ryos is pronounced like "Raios" and not "Reeos". I also mentally pronounce Skiadrum as "Skai-dram" instead of "Skeea-Droom" like the anime.**

"Rogue?"

Rogue looked down at his little exceed partner, Frosch, with a questioning glance. The two of them were resting on a bed during the third night of the Grand Magic Games. Sting and Lector were still out to get some dinner. The light of the full moon shone through the window of the hotel room.

"Can Rogue tell Fro about Rogue's dad? Fro wants to know more about the dragon that took care of Rogue like Rogue does with Fro." The exceed, in his little frog costume that Rogue bought him, asked.

Frosch still has quite a childish voice and way of thinking because he himself was much younger than the other exceed like Lector and the Fairy Tail exceed since Rogue adopted his egg from exceed parents who were killed by a dark guild's mages. Rogue remembered how furious he was at that particular guild and he would have destroyed them even if it wasn't his job.

The egg was already damaged though since the mages were trying to break it open. This resulted in some scars along Frosch's back which embarrassed him a lot and made him easily frightened of danger. The frog costume was his way of boosting his self-confidence a little and Rogue didn't care. As long as Frosch was happy, Rogue would go along with anything he wanted.

"You want to hear more about Skiadrum?" Rogue queried and Frosch nodded with wide-open eyes. "Very well, I'll tell you about some parts I can still remember. It's been fourteen years after all…"

_More than fourteen years ago…_

"**Ryos… get your lazy ass out of that tent. It's already noon." **A deep voice rumbled through the cavern that Rogue called his home.

"How would I know? It's dark in here twenty-four hours a day, seven days of the week!" A little voice piped through the tent.

A colossal tail came out of the shadow silhouette on the wall of the cavern and wacked the tent so that a yelp was heard from the inside of the tent.

"Alright Skiadrum! I'm up already!" A young boy of about six years old stuck his head out of the tent. His dark hair was longer than the average child's and very ruffled from his recent sleep.

"**About time young one. You don't need light to tell you when to rise. A shadow master rises whenever the situation demands for it. There is always shade through light and darkness." **The dark shadow growled. The only source of light in the cave was a little fire that Ryos used to keep warm. This was also the main source of the great draconic shadow on the wall, for this was the body of Skiadrum. He could become one with shadows whenever he desired.

As Rogue, or Ryos as he was still known as on this day, came out of the tent, the front half of Skiadrum's body came through the shadows and materialized in the form of a black dragon with dark red stripes curving on his stomach (in a similar shape as Rogue's black markings during dragon force).

There was a ridge of spikes running from behind his nose, over his back until the tip of his tail. His wings were ragged, as if they had been torn to shreds and repaired. The shape of his head was broad and fairly circular, but quite flat. His yellow eyes were the only clearly visible part of him, even in the darkness.

Despite Skiadrum's powerful build and proud posture, Ryos could still see the slight dullness in his father's eyes. His illness was taking a toll on the great dragon. Ryos had asked about the origins of the illness before but Skiadrum had just scoffed at him and said that he had been carrying that particular burden for a long time.

"**Show me your roar!" **The dragon demanded and Ryos obeyed, this was a daily routine of theirs to strengthen his roar.

"Shadow Dragon's …Roar!" A dark grey vortex spun at the dragon that neutralized it with a fairly hard flick of his paw.

"**Still weak. How do you expect to slay dragons while playing around like that? At least scratch a sick dragon with it."** Skiadrum scolded his trainee.

"As if you're weaker than other dragons! You're the strongest, Skiadrum, and I will defeat you one day!"

The dragon chuckled darkly, **"I'll hold you on to that so don't take back your words."**

_Present day_

The exceed looked up with a worried expression, "Did Rogue know that Rogue's dad would ask to be killed?"

Rogue shook his head slowly, "No… I knew he was ill but he… still seemed so strong… immortal somehow. I wish he asked me though…" At Frosch's confused glance, Rogue stopped himself.

"Why don't I tell you a little more about my training…"

_More than fourteen years ago_

"Shadow dragon's waxwing- ugh!" Ryos stumbled during his attack. He couldn't grasp the shadows properly and kept stumbling during the spin.

Skiadrum sighed at the boy. He was fully materialized now and the two of them were in the forest further away from the cave so that Ryos would have more space to train for his techniques.

"**Stop trying to be a human. You're moving like a human and that is why you cannot picture your wings. Get down on all fours and be a dragon."** Skiadrum lectured Ryos.

"Yes sir…" The boy got into a crawl position and moved around experimentally before trying the technique again. "Shadow dragon's waxwing fl- argh!" He stumbled once again.

The large dragon just shook his head, "**Seems like we still have a lot of work to do…"**

"Hey, Skiadrum?"

"**Hmm?"**

"What is the Shadow Dragon's strongest attack?" Ryos asked him.

"**I wonder… probably this one. Though I doubt that you'll ever master it in your lifetime..." **Skiadrum leaned back on his back legs, lifting up the front paws. A large mass of darkness started spiraling around his paws that were spread to his sides. Then suddenly he brought the two paws together with a resounding crack as they slapped together. A large vertical stream of darkness shot forward through the earth for a hundred meters, the ground seemed to split apart but it was just the dark line of shadows. All the trees on top of the dark line were dragged into the shadows. Then the line disappeared, leaving a long straight clearing.

Ryos' eyes were wide open with awe at the decimation of the trees. "That's so cool! Where did the trees go?"

"**They were dragged into the shadows. Only other dragons are able to escape from this, but not if I enter the shadows after them. In that world, my abyss, I am the master. There is no floor or matter for enemies to regain their footing on." **Skiadrum explained.

"So if I could stay in shadow form for a while, I could fight in that shadow? What would you call that technique for a dragon slayer?" Ryos asked excitedly.

"**Like I said, I don't know if you would ever be capable of it so don't get too excited. A name huh… probably… Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Torn World – Abyss of Shadows" **Skiadrum said, deep in thought.

_Present day_

"Wow! That sounds super strong! Did Rogue ever learn that attack?" Frosch asked in awe.

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm still trying hard but I can't muster enough power to drag so much solid matter into the shadows at once. I can only grab one person and pull them in with me but it's not too hard to get out again." Rogue clarified.

"And the crouching, Fro remembers that Rogue often crouches during fights while Sting stand straight. Is this because of what Rogue's dad said about being a dragon?"

Rogue chuckled, "You're a clever one Frosch." The exceed blushed at the compliment. "Yes, that's where I got my habit of crouching from. It also raises my speed during battle and makes my movement harder to follow. Sting always makes fun of me though; he says it looks "uncool".

"Fro doesn't think so. Rogue always looks cool." The cat stated.

Rogue petted Frosch's head, "Thanks buddy."

"So how did Rogue part with Skiadrum?" Frosch asked.

"That was the worst day of my life… The sixth of July, X777 if I remember correctly…"

_6__th__ July X777_

"Skiadrum? Skiadrum? …Dad? Come on, this isn't funny." Ryos said angrily and pulled at the dragon's arm.

Skiadrum just rumbled softly through his chest and turned his head away slightly. A weak shudder went through his body.

"You were still able to move yesterday. Why are you in such a bad state now? I don't understand, Skiadrum!" Ryos was nearly in hysterics, trying to get a proper reaction out of his only family.

The only reaction Skiadrum showed was a cough that rattled all the way to his tail and some shaking.

"Today is my birthday… I'm seven now. You promised we would go flying on my birthday." Ryos mumbled with tears coming to his eyes.

There was no response from Skiadrum other than the continuous shaking.

Ryos knew that the dragon was in complete agony that the moment. He could see the pain ripple through the dark scales and the short puffs of breaths were fast and weak. Skiadrum had moments of pain before but it was clear that he wasn't going to get better from this one.

Ryos' was quiet for a moment, his eyes darkening when he understood what had to happen. Skiadrum didn't have the strength to request it himself… so Ryos had to decide his fate.

He could just wait and let the illness run its course naturally but…

The boy couldn't stand to see his normally proud father reduced to a mess like he is now. He would end the agony for good as a last favor to the proud dragon that couldn't fall in battle like dragons usually choose to. He could give him the closest thing to a battle…

Ryos walked to Skiadrum's neck and gave it one last hug. "I'm sorry Skiadrum… Dad. Please forgive me. I hope we'll meet again someday…" He slowly slid his hands off Skiadrum's neck and stepped back before lowering into a crouch.

"Shadow Dragon's Waxwing Flash!"

He never saw the smile on Skiadrum's face.

_Present day_

The room was silent until Frosch responded.

"Fro is sorry, Rogue…"

"No, it's alright. It wasn't your fault. It had to be done…" Rogue responded with a soft voice.

"Thanks for trusting Fro with this." The exceed got up to give Rogue a hug before sliding back into his position at Rogue's side.

"Yeah… no problem. You should go to sleep Frosch. It's going to be a big day tomorrow." The exceed nodded at this and closed his eyes.

Rogue leaned back in his bed with his arms behind his head and looked at the moonlight coming through the window.

'…_I miss you… Dad.'_

/

/

**Ahh I feel so proud of this piece. I hope I did well! Please let me know what you think of my interpretation of Skiadrum and his death. Sorry if young Rogue is out of character but children are usually more cheerful than their adult selves. I also don't know when Rogue's birthday is so I made it up here. Once again, please let me know how I did!**

**Ultrawolfie out!**


End file.
